Part 22
"Hiya, Donna. How are you?"
"Oh, hey CJ." CJ seems to be in a good mood.
"Do you have a moment? Could you come into my office with me?" Oh, I wonder what this is about.
"Sure." We walk together into her office and I sit on her couch.
"Donna, I need a favor from you. It's kinda a big one and it may take up some time so you don't have to say yes." Is she kidding me? The amount of time and energy she has put in for me, I owe her a hand and a foot.
"CJ, don't be silly. Ask me anything."
"Great…..You see, my brother was planning to buy a new house and he filled in the paperwork and stuff but it suddenly fell through for some stupid reason…anyway, they're lease in their current home is ending real soon and they need to get a new house by then. The thing is my brother has narrowed down to seven houses but he has to go on a business trip to Oregon and my sister-in-law broke her leg…"
"Oh no, is she okay?"
"Oh yes. She's fine. Just recovering at home. Anyway, he asked me to look at the houses and pick maybe two homes that I feel is suitable and the best for them. I was wondering if you could come with me to look at the houses."
"That's it? Is that all? Of course I'll come with you. It'll be fun." Yeah, house hunting could be fun especially when you aren't the one who's gonna buy it. No pressure.
"Great..but what about Josh? You guys just moved in together and he'll probably want to spend every possible second with you after work."
"Well, he's just gonna have to deal with it, won't he?"
"Super, so can you take a long lunch on Friday? I've got an appointment with the real estate person."
"Sure. I hope Josh won't be a pest about it though."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure he'll let you go." Oh, Josh is going to be in big trouble if he makes a fuss about this. That could be fun to watch.
I should probably ask him soon about lunch on Friday then he can't give me some last minute excuse for me not to go. Ah, speaking of the devil, Josh is back.
"Hi Joshua, did you miss me?" He's sitting at his desk writing something down.
"Donna, where were you? I came back from my meeting and you weren't at your desk!" See, I'm not exaggerating when I say he's a baby.
"Relax Josh, I wasn't off gallivanting in some gangster-like neighborhood. I was just talking to CJ at her office." I continued telling him about CJ's brother's situation.
"So, can I have a slightly longer lunch on Friday?" Don't make a big deal out of this!
"Oh, sure. No problem, just don't forget to come back here after lunch." Huh, that was easy. Is he going soft on me? Nah, I think he's just afraid of CJ that's all.
"You ready CJ?" It's Friday 1pm already. Josh actually remembered I told him I'm taking a long lunch which is a first I assure you. I'm actually looking forward to this.
We met up with Tina Jones about a block away from the house we are going to see. Tina looks like she's approaching fifty and seems like a really nice and warm person.
"Come on in." The house looks beautiful from outside. Really big as well.
"Woah!" What a beautiful place!
"Holy cow." CJ says.
"I didn't know your brother's living large!"
"Neither did I." What?
"I mean he is a private attorney. He does make a lot. It's just that this is much larger that his current house, that's all." CJ's sounding odd. I hope she's not upset over this. You know, her brother having the big family and the big house with a great career.
"This home's stone-and-cedar shingle facade is delightfully complemented by French Country detailing, dormer windows, and shutters at the large arched window." Tina explains as we walk into the house.
The entry door is see through and has sidelights. The foyer was just magnificent as it was domed shaped. We continued touring the home and CJ and I are in awe.
"This is the formal dining room, with built-ins, which opens through French doors, flank the foyer."
"Wow, these French doors are beautiful." They were wooden-made and had a modern look to them.
"I'll say." CJ answers me.
"Moving on, the living room has a fireplace and double doors to the backyard……The kitchen have corner windows overlooking the back yard."
"Oh that's very nice." CJ responds to viewing the kitchen. Like the living room, the kitchen also had a vaulted ceiling.
"We have here a service hall, with a laundry alcove that opens to the garage. There is space enough here for two or three cars. The master suite is on the main level while other bedrooms are upstairs." We head up the staircase. This is such an impressive house.
"The master bath is well designed with a Palladian window. You can see the spa tub here." We enter the master suite and boy oh boy, is it big or what!!
We continue walking upstairs. "Family bedrooms share a hall bath. This huge extra space could be used for a future bedroom, games room, or home office."
"Oh, those huge windows are lovely." I say causing CJ to look at me. I look at her back.
"Oh yeah! I see what you're talking about. Beautiful." CJ says as she quickly turns her head towards the windows. Strange.
We continue looking around awhile and made an appointment with Tina for tomorrow morning. We'll be looking at two houses tomorrow before going to the office.
"So, did you like the house?"
"Oh yes, sure. Your brother has great taste."
"Yeah, I never knew that. Could you see yourself living in this kind of house?" Hmm…that's something to ponder about.
"Well, I don't know. Possibly if I had a big family and you know, a huge bank account." CJ laughs.
"Yeah. I thought it was too spacious though, not cozy enough. What do you think?"
"You're right. Plus it's a little too modern I feel. I mean, your brother might like that though."
"Ah, who cares about him, he's giving me such a huge responsibility and not to mention, added burden to my hefty schedule, I'm gonna pick a house I fall in love with." Falling in love with a house. Hmm, I wonder what that feels like.
"I hear you sister!"
"Or of course if I can't decide on something, you can even make the choice." Ooo, that'll be very cool as well.
"Great!! I'm going to look forward to that." This is going to be more fun than expected.
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"Donna!!! Come to bed!!" She's been in the shower for ages! What the heck do women do in there? I mean turn on the shower, scrub with soap, wash off. Why does that take so long?
"I'm coming, keep your pants on!" I think otherwise.
"I'm here. Are you happy now?" I grin at her super serious face. She slowly breaks into a smile. Ah, perfection.
"So, did you have fun today with CJ?" I haven't spoken to CJ about how today went.
"Yeah, the house was huge and very nice. I didn't know CJ's brother is so well-to-do and for the looks of it CJ didn't know it as well." Yikes, I should have told CJ about the houses. Now Donna thinks CJ doesn't know her brother well enough to know how much he makes but her brother can ask her to pick a house for him and his family. I hope Donna doesn't read too much into this.
"Wow, cool." I shouldn't show too much interest in this, she might get suspicious.
"Oh, also, can I come in later tomorrow. It's Saturday and CJ wants to look at two houses. I will come back by noon. I'll have lunch when I'm out so it won't take up more time from work. Is that okay?" Look at her, she looks like a little girl pleading to go out and play. If she only knew.
"Alright, I guess that wouldn't do too much damage to my career." She looks at me kind of oddly. Did she expect me to say no? Why would she? I'm a reasonable man.
"Okay, thanks. So, what do you wanna do now?" Oooh….She runs a finger down my whole arm and is leaning towards me. Oh, not the ear! She's nibbling on my ear which I'm sure she's figured out is my weak spot. I'm amazed how quick she found out about that. What is she doing to me?!!
"Donna!" I slowly nudge her away from me. I'm going to find her weak spot now, if it kills me!
"Let ME have some fun, will ya?" I start exploring her body. This is going to be an enjoyable night.
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"Okay, this home has European roots. It presents a fine face, with stone foundation accents and keystone arches over the windows and a lower-level entry door."
I'm standing outside another big beautiful house with CJ and Tina.
"Are all the houses fully furnished?" I'm surprised this house is furnished just like the one before.
"No, just about four of them on the list. The rest are partially furnished." Tina explains.
"Does your brother prefer it to be completely furnished?" CJ looks at me. Is she thinking about it? Have she and her brother not talked about the houses at all?
"Oh, well he's a busy man and I guess he wouldn't have chosen fully furnished houses if he didn't want it."
"But what about all the stuff in their current home?" CJ's giving me the same look again.
"I guess they would bring some and leave the rest. Also, their current house is partially furnished so they wouldn't have much stuff anyway." Oh, that makes sense.
We walk through the house. It is just as big as the previous one.
"The floor plan is open and allows for a formal dining room, a two-story living room and a luxurious kitchen. As you can see, the kitchen leads to the covered porch through these large doors and is adjacent to the stairs leading to the upper level."
"Oh, the kitchen is glorious." CJ's obviously taken by the kitchen. It has beautiful oak cabinets and a huge counter that was curve shaped.
"It is extraordinary." However, I think it's a little too big for me. I think a kitchen should be more cozy and homely.
"The living room is rather elegant I'm sure you'll agree." Tina was right. It was very elegant with rose wood furniture and maroon couched with a very nice fire place.
"There's a private den is over there and has the use of a half-bath, which is right across from a coat closet. It includes a walk-in pantry, a built-in desk, a corner fireplace and an art niche." We walk into the den. Wow, what a work of art just for a den.
"Does your brother need a den?" I ask CJ.
"Probably not. What do you think? Would it be useful? Do you prefer having a den?"
"Well, probably not. It'll just separate a family unit unless they have guests often and for long periods or are planning to rent it out."
"I don't think so."
There were two bedrooms on the main level which includes a master suite. We moved on to the upper level that holds two additional bedrooms, sharing a full bath, and also a games room.
"So that's it here. Let's go on to the next house shall we?" CJ and I head to CJ's car while Tina goes to hers.
"So, what do you think?"
"It was nice. A little too much space in some places I feel. I preferred the previous house. What did you think?"
"Oh, same as you." Oh, I would have thought CJ preferred this house.
We entered the third house which again was like the others, nice and big.
"This beautiful Craftsman style home has features showing sophistication."
"Oh, the porch is lovely." I say.
"Yes, it frames the entry and adds charm to the house…….You can see here that the vaulted dining room flank the two-story foyer creating more formal, secluded spaces in the front of the home."
"Here you can see a wall of windows in the living room and a large bay off of the nook giving it a bright, open atmosphere." She's right about that, it is very bright over here.
We then went to the bedrooms and baths. There were also a study and a games room in this house.
"Well, that's it for today. I'm actually going to be busy early this week and I have to go to New York after that. I'll be back on Friday though. I don't mind a late evening appointment on Friday if that's okay with you. I know how busy your schedule is."
"Oh, Friday evening should be fine unless there's a national emergency." CJ says the senior staff's most common line.
We made the appointment at 7pm Friday and CJ and I decided to head out to get a quick bite to eat. We ended up at a sandwich place nearby.
"Did you like this house?" CJ asks me as she takes a bite out of the sandwich.
"Yeah, it was really nice."
"Did you feel anything when you saw it?" What?
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know…did you feel warm and fuzzy inside when you saw it?"
"Umm…I didn't really think about it…why?"
"Oh, I'm sure my brother would like a warm, cozy house suitable for a loving family. I'm trying to get a feel from these houses, coz they all look great it's hard to pick. I'm sure the other houses would be just as great and I'll have to go with my gut feeling." She's right, there's no other way considering the homes don't have any obvious faults with them.
"Yeah, I agree with you. Well, I guess I was kinda excited with the first house compared to the ones today. I felt the last one was a little bare. But then again, I may have really liked the first house mainly due to being surprised with it. " Well, like CJ said, it's hard to choose as they all look great.
"Yeah. Okay, back to work." We went back to CJ's car. It's almost noon already.
"I hope Josh won't be mad. I know you said you'll be back by noon. We might be about fifteen minutes late."
"That's alright. He seemed quiet undisturbed by me going house hunting with you. I thought he'll fuss about leaving him alone for longer than a half hour. He surprisingly didn't have a problem with it at all. Not even a whine which is so unlike him."
"Huh….that's odd. Why don't we just except it and count our blessings?" Hallelujah to that!
"Good idea."
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"Hey, buddy. Where are you planning to dig out all the cash from?"
"What?" I look up from the report I was reading.
"Why didn't you tell me how grand the houses were going to be? Donna thinks I know nothing about my brother by now." And I thought CJ was going to let this go.
"I guess I forgot. Sorry."
"So, where are you going to get the money?"
"I inherited it from my dad and grandfather plus about half of what my mom got when she sold our house in Connecticut."
"Wow, you lucky ol' fool. Why can't I get that lucky?"
"Do you really want me to answer that?" I snicker at her, irritating her as usual.
"Anyway, I don't think Donna found her house yet. She liked them all and was really impressed but I don't think she can see herself living in any of them."
"Oh." That's too bad.
"Hey, don't worry there are four more to go." What if she doesn't like any of them? My plan would all be disarrayed. Then I'll have to spend another god knows how long to come up with something else. Please, don't let this plan be screwed.
"Also, you aren't giving her grief about hanging out with me and not you."
"What?"
"Donna's wondering what's got into you. You know, not making a fuss and whining like you usually do when she has to leave you longer than ten minutes."
"Hey, I don't whine or fuss. Why does she think it's weird? I'm a reasonable man." CJ looks like she's going to explode laughing. Damn her.
"Reasonable Joshua? You didn't let her have a life for years. You complain when she wants to go home at 9pm."
"Well, that's coz I was preventing her from dating anyone else which I don't need to do anymore." Did I say that out load? I did, didn't I?
CJ's starring again. This is not good.
"I better get back to work. Busy, busy…as I'm sure you are too." Please don't kill me!
"You're lucky she's happy now or your knee caps would be in deep shit." Thank god.
TBC…………
